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How to be a newbie in HT?

Auteur durkathcastle

After many past experiences in Hattrick, with very short, short or medium playing periods, I'm now more into the "let's take this a bit deeper" part of the game. In combining all my experiences from the previous periods in play, the forums, the (unwritten) manuals, ... I figured out I simply forgot to be a newbie. You have the right to be a newbie, and by all means, do what any newbie does: you do stupid things!

The start
Starting all over again after a couple of years for the 5th or 6th time, I thought I had it all figured out. Get Hattrick Organizer (HO), start the Youth Academy (YA) immediately, go search on the forums for training guides, manuals,... and all other things I could remember. Yay, I will start as a real pro now! Because I have so much past experience, I'm bound to get this team to 3th, or 2nd league in no time!

The first weeks
Bugger. There's so much information that pops up. HO doesn't seem to have changed, but how does it work again? Was the unwritten manual always that big of a deal? Why the hell is everyone talking about conversions and chances and chanced conversions and converted chances? What is that midfield thing that is now not main-skilled anymore? Training programs of 15 years, huh? \

Yes, it turns out there's a whole lot of info, feel free to call it a massive amount of information. What better way to play a game you really understand quite well already, than to just check up everything, apply, and win, win win! It takes some more effort than I had anticipated, but I'm going to be a real pro soon!

At the end of the first season
I'm not a pro. I can barely understand everything. There's too much information. There's too many players out there who know it better. Do I even want to continue? Do I?

Well, yes, the road to perfection is paved with blood, sweat and tears. Invest, and you'll get there... for sure... perhaps a bit later... but you're sure to get there.

The revelation
It only took until the mid-season period I realized I simply didn't want to act like a pro. I didn't need to be the pro, I needed to be the newbie. The one that tries out stuff, makes (horrible) mistakes, and learns. One that discovers on his own pace on his own accord. But it sure isn't easy. Because a mistake has an effect. You get less fans suddenly, your sponsors give you less money, your team-spirit drops dramatically (Yes, as a newbie you do not understand that when you're in a division where your season expectation is "We are not worthy of this division" (the worst).

Well, here's the newbie-trick: don't try to understand it. Let it pass. At this moment it's not worth your time, nor your ranting, nor your beliefs, nor your knowledge. Just let it pass. The match is played, the results are not going to change. Get to the core: What did you learn?

The approach
So what did I do? I started my own HT-learning process. I now have my own excel with 8 sheets documenting all kind of things. Is it slow and inefficient? Of course. Is it complete? Surely not! Is it the best? For me, it is!

Having my own way looking at HT and how it works (as a newbie grasping the basics) has led me to much insights, some of which I tried to check on the forums, only to find out they don't understand. Perhaps, they don't even want to understand. Why? Because they are pro, and they have been doing things like that for that long, and everyone does it, so it has to be and must be exactly like that. And that is where my newbie-sheets shine.

I do things differently, and by doing them on my own, with my own data (yes, it's limited, but don't forget you're still the newbie :)), doesn't mean I can't learn new stuff. And so do I. And they can say on the forums all they want to follow rule A, because everyone uses rule A, and everyone advises rule A, I'm 100% sure that my rule B is better. Are you sure it's better? Yes. Is it the best? No idea. Is it unique? I don't know, but will not inform everyone about that rule B, and I'm pretty sure the people who found rule B, aren't going to throw it around to have it automated in one or other webservice that automates everything, and makes you another mediocre downloader without understanding what he actually looks at.

I love my Excel sheets. They are the core of my team. They give me so much more insight (which might not always be correct, but as a newbie I am allowed to make mistakes) than any program I've tried. I'm not saying they are helpful and all, but they don't enable you to skip "the newbie phase". So I urge you, embrace it, fail as much as you can... (the worst case is a bankruptcy where you can start over again as well ;)). There are so many things that you can learn on your own, which later on can be put into the broader aspect of the game. I've learned now that at this moment, I don't need that information yet. Let me understand the basics, at my own pace, and when I'm ready to really look at probabilities and SE's and all the other things, then I might just to that... but for now...

BANG!!! I Am An Utterly Clueless Newbie... And That Is My Right! And I'll Do It With My Very Own Blood, Sweat And Tears!

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